The Benefits of Imperfection: Biology, Society, and Beyond

By: Olivier Hamant

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into UK education collection to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: The cult of performance leads our society to emphasise the values of success and continuous optimisation in all areas. Slowness, redundancy and randomness are therefore negatively perceived. Olivier Hamant, in his book, reclaims them by his knowledge of biological processes.What can we learn from life sciences? While some biological mechanisms certainly boast formidable efficiency, recent advances instead highlight the fundamental role of errors, incoherence or slowness in the robustness of living organisms. Should life be considered suboptimal? To what extent could suboptimality become a counter-model to the credo of performance and control in the Anthropocene?In the face of pessimistic observations and environmental alerts, the author outlines solutions for a future that is viable and reconciled with nature.Key Features: Solidly documents with a grounding in scientific facts focusing on solutions Explores a pragmatic way towards robustness, moving the debate beyond performance, technolatry or degrowth Responds to eco-anxiety by providing an engaging and viable way forward

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9781040115756
Related ISBNs:: 9781003510918, 9781040115701, 9781032832203
Publisher:: CRC Press
Date of Addition:: 09/29/24
Copyrighted By:: Taylor & Francis, LLC Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Reference, Science, Animals, Outdoors and Nature, Earth Sciences
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.